Dewi Iorwerth Ellis Bebb (7 August 1938 – 14 March 1996) was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who won thirty-four caps for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

as a

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. He later worked in television. He made his debut for

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

in a game against

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

in 1958. He remained with Swansea throughout his playing career, making 221 appearances, scoring 87 tries and captaining the team in the 1963–4 and 1964–5 seasons.

Early life

Dewi Bebb was the son of the Welsh historian Ambrose Bebb. After attending

Friars School, Bangor is a school in Bangor, Gwynedd, and the second oldest extant school in Wales. History 1557 Establishment The school was founded by Geoffrey Glyn who had been brought up in Anglesey and had followed a career in law in London. A friary had be ...

he was

conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. After the navy he studied at Trinity College, Carmarthen, and Cardiff Teacher Training College.

Rugby career

He made his first appearance for

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1959, eventually winning thirty four caps between 1959 and 1967 and scoring eleven tries. He was selected for Wales' first overseas tour in 1964 and played in the Welsh rugby team's first match outside of Europe and its first in the Southern Hemisphere; played against

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

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on 12 May 1964, Wales winning 8–26. He toured with the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

to South Africa in 1962, playing in two of the four tests, and to Australia, New Zealand and Canada in 1966, playing in all six tests. He was joint top try scorer on the 1966 tour.

Television

Bebb was a originally a teacher by profession. In 1964 he joined the television company TWW, where he presented the Welsh-language news programme . He worked for the successor television franchise HTV, and moved to sports commentary and production work. He edited HTV's Sports Arena programme and was involved in covering the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup () was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

s and two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. His son Sion is a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er who has played on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bebb, Dewi 1938 births 1996 deaths Barbarian F.C. players Dewi British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales People associated with Trinity University College People educated at Friars School, Bangor Rugby union players from Bangor, Gwynedd Rugby union wings Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Bangor RFC (Wales) players Welsh television journalists 20th-century Welsh journalists